The present patent relates to a security splicing system of aligned pipes, against the expansion and/or contraction thereof.
More particularly, the present patent relates to a system devised to carry out the splicing of piping with identical diameters and situated aligned one with respect to the other, featuring as its essential characteristic that the watertightness achieved by means of the splice with suitable flanges will not be altered by expansions and/or contractions that the aforementioned piping may suffer due to changes in temperature. The elements which constitute the system are described below.
The use of prefabricated piping is generalized for the construction or installation of fluid pipes, both liquid and gas, at various pressures, often high, for requirements of the type of pipe or transport to be carried out and for the characteristics of the fluid to conduct or transport.
This piping can be supplied in factory-produced sections, of several dozen metres, so that the time necessary to lay the piping is relatively short. This piping is preferably manufactured in polyethylene, a material of optimal characteristics for the transport of different fluids, and especially aggressive liquids and/or gases, including the United Nation's list of hazardous materials.
However, a basic and characteristic element of these installations are flanges and fastenings that are used for the joining or splicing of two pipes, aligned and of equal diameter, flanges and fastenings of various types that grip both ends of the pipes to splice and which must guarantee the watertightness of that splice, especially if the phenomenon of expansion/contraction due to changes in temperature and the drawbacks that can arise in that spliced area are taken into consideration, since the movements caused by the expansion/contraction will directly affect the position of the flange/fastening device, and can bring about leaks due to the loss of watertightness in that place, with the ensuing danger.
The system being disclosed and which is object of the present invention completely eliminates the possibility of the excessive movement of the flange/fastening placed on the two aligned ends of the piping that has been joined, guaranteeing the stability of that area and the impossibility that any leak due to an improbable movement of said flange/fastening occurs.
Patent ES200202246 (M. J. Pires) discloses flanges for the splicing of piping with smooth ends which achieve watertightness with help from metal rings which support and drive into the piping surface, providing that most of them increase the number of fixed vertices and, therefore, improve the watertightness.
If the function desired is obviously correct, the difficulty arises when the piping to be spliced expands or contracts, given that especially those made of propylene increase in length with heat and shrink in cold.